Voice message delivery to unattended station

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for apprising an unattended station of the presence of a voice message awaiting retrieval from a voice mail system. The voice mail system is connected to the unattended station, as by automatic telephone dialing, whereupon activating signals are transmitted to the unattended station to dispose that station in a signal receiving mode of operation. Display data then are transmitted to the unattended station when said unattended station is conditioned to receive signals. A disconnect operation is carried out to disconnect the voice mail system from the unattended station if the unattended station is not conditioned to receive signals, or subsequent to the transmission of the display data. Preferably, and in accordance with the preferred embodiment, the voice message is transmitted for recording at the unattended station if the display data are received successfully thereat.

RELATED APPLICATION

Reference is made to patent application Ser. No. 441,490, filed Nov. 27,1989, by Bergeron et al., entitled "PRIORITY VOICE MESSAGE DELIVERYSYSTEM", and assigned to the assignee of this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to voice message storage and transmission systemsand, more particularly, to apparatus for use in a central dictationsystem in which priority voice messages are supplied to unattendedstations of designated recipients by way of, for example, voice mail.

Central dictation systems are known wherein a central voice messagestore receives messages dictated by system authors for subsequenttransmission to transcribe stations whereby those messages may betranscribed to written, or "hard copy" form. One example of a centraldictation system is the Nucleus Central Dictation System, sold byDictaphone Corporation. In the Nucleus system, the central store iscomprised of magnetic tape which records, in analog form, messages whichare dictated by system authors. Recorded messages are directed bysupervisory control to particular transcribe stations.

Another example of a central dictation system is the Digital ExpressSystem DX7000, sold by Dictaphone Corporation, which utilizes digitaltechniques for converting dictated messages to digital form and thenstoring those digitized messages on typical digital storage devices.Details of this system are described in British Specification 2,201,863,published Sept. 7, 1988. Here too, stored messages subsequently may bereproduced and directed to particular transcribe stations undersupervisory control. In a digital central dictation system, digitalinformation characterizing each message may be stored with that message,or in a separate storage device or storage area and linked to thatmessage. Such information typically identifies the type of message whichis dictated, the identity of the author who dictated that message, andother parameters which are useful in following (or tracking) theprogress of the storage and transcribe operations associated with thatmessage. For example, the time of dictation, the particular departmentof which the author is a member, and other useful information may begenerated either automatically, as when the author operates his dictateequipment, or manually, such as may be generated when the authoroperates a keyboard, keypad, or the like.

In some instances, certain dictated messages are of sufficientimportance as to be transmitted to a recipient immediately afterdictation such that the recipient is apprised of that message withoutdelay. That is, it is important for the recipient to learn of thatmessage even before it is transcribed into hard copy. For example, inthe environment of a health care facility, such as a hospital, reportsdictated by certain physicians or technicians with respect to particularpatients or particular diagnoses may require prompt transmission to theattending physician of that patient and should not be subject toinherent delays associated with the transcription of those reports.However, in most conventional central dictation systems, both of theanalog and digital type, such prompt communication of what is referredto herein as "priority messages" is not readily attainable. Often,auxiliary means are used to apprise a particular recipient of the factthat a priority message is awaiting his access. For example, the authorof the message may have to communicate directly with its recipient, asby placing a separate telephone call to him which often may not besuccessful. Similarly, the mere communication of a priority message to asupervisor with the request that the message be relayed to the recipientmay not be completed, either because the recipient is not readilyavailable to receive that message, or because the supervisory operatormay be occupied with other tasks, or the like.

Recently so-called "voice mail" systems have been introduced. A typicalvoice mail system is incorporated into many private telephone systemsand provides a means for recording a message from one user of the systemdestined to another, in the event that the latter is not available toreceive the message at the time it is transmitted. Accordingly, acentral recorder is used as a temporary store of that message; and theintended recipient is apprised of the fact that a message is awaitinghis retrieval. For example, the telephone equipment normally used in thesystem may be provided with an indicator which is energized when a"voice mail" message has been recorded and is awaiting retrieval by itsrecipient. Typically, the intended recipient responds to such anindication by accessing the central store, whereupon the recordedmessage is played back. To prevent the retrieval of a voice mail messageby an unauthorized recipient, each recipient is provided with a "voicemailbox" which may be thought of as being analogous to a conventionalmailbox. Voice mailboxes are accessed by a suitable "key", such as aparticular password, user identification, or the like. Thus, in itsgeneral and intended form, voice mail is temporarily stored in a voicemailbox and retrieved only by a user authorized to access that mailbox.

In a typical voice message communication system, voice mail and centraldictation have been treated heretofore as two separate, independent anddistinct facilities. That is, a voice mail system has not beeninteractive with nor accessible from the central dictation system. Useof a voice mail system normally requires inputs and controls separatefrom those of a dictation system. Thus, in a health care environment ofthe type described above, a dictated message destined for an attendingphysician cannot be sent to him promptly unless a separate voice mailsystem is available and the author of the message accesses the voicemail system and creates another, separate message to be accessed by theattending physician.

Unfortunately, use of the voice mail system under the circumstancesdescribed above is time-consuming, laborious and often frustrating. Theauthor may not have sufficient time to recreate his original report forthe benefit of the voice mail system. Consequently, there is a highprobability that important messages which should be transmittedimmediately to a desired recipient nevertheless may not reach thatrecipient until the hard copy report is transcribed and physicallydelivered to him.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome theaforementioned disadvantages and communicate important messages whichare dictated in a central dictation system to desired recipientsimmediately, automatically and without the need for the author tore-dictate that message.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for use in acentral voice message dictation system for supplying priority voicemessages to voice mailboxes which may be accessed by particularrecipients.

A further object of this invention is to incorporate voice mail featuresinto a central dictation system such that priority messages which aredictated by an author and are destined to particular recipients may becommunicated promptly to those recipients.

An additional object of this invention is to transmit a priority voicemessage from a central store to equipment provided at a recipient'sstation, whether or not that station is attended.

Various other objects, advantages and features of the present inventionwill become readily apparent from the ensuing detailed description, andthe novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention, apparatus is provided for use in adictation system of the type having a central voice message store forreceiving and storing messages dictated by an author and for selectivelyplaying back stored messages for transcription, which apparatus enablespriority messages to be transmitted promptly to unattended stations ofdesired recipients. Certain of the stored voice messages are identifiedas priority messages which, in response to a priority messagecontroller, are supplied to desired voice mailboxes whereat they aretemporarily stored and subsequently transmitted to recipients intendedto receive those messages.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, a voice mailbox isconnected via a telephone line to an unattended station, as byautomatically dialing that station, whereupon activating signals aretransmitted to dispose the unattended station in a signal receiving modeof operation. When the unattended station is conditioned to receivesignals, display data are transmitted thereto and, if the display dataare received correctly, the voice message is transmitted for recordingat the unattended station. A disconnect operation is carried out if theunattended station is not conditioned to receive signals, or once thevoice message is recorded successfully.

As a feature of this invention, preface signals are transmitted to theunattended station, and a reply signal detector detects reply signalsreturned therefrom representing that the unattended station is capableof responding to the activating signals. Preferably, the preface signalscomprise preface tones and a warning message, the latter being adaptedto apprise a human operator of the presence of a voice message awaitingretrieval and, in one embodiment, the warning message is a synthesizedvoice message.

As another aspect of this invention, acknowledgment signals returnedfrom the unattended station, representing that the display data has beensuccessfully received, are detected to enable the voice message awaitingretrieval to be transmitted for recording at the unattended station.

As a still further aspect of this invention, record completion signalsreturned from the unattended station when the voice message is recordedthereat are sensed; but the voice message is repeatedly transmitted upto a predetermined number of times if record completion signals are notsensed, whereafter the voice mailbox is disconnected from the calledstation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description, given by way of example, will bestbe understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a central dictation system in which aparticular message may be transmitted promptly and directly to a desiredrecipient;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representing a message file used with thepresent invention to indicate and transmit a priority message;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of apparatus used to transmit a prioritymessage to its recipient;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing automatic priority messagetransmission to an unattended station; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a combined hand-held microphone and bar codesensor that may be used in the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 illustrates a central dictation system which is adapted toreceive and store messages dictated by several authors having access tothat system and to selectively play back the stored messages totranscriptionists for transcription to hard copy. The system shown inFIG. 1 also delivers to a voice mail system certain ones of the dictatedmessages which are identified as having high priority for prompttransmission to particular recipients, these messages being referred toherein as "priority messages". Accordingly, a voice message centralstore 14 is adapted to receive voice messages which are dictated fromany one of several dictate stations, such as dictate stations 10-1,10-2, . . . 10-8, and to transmit selected ones of the stored messagesto any one of several transcribe stations 20-1, 20-2, etc. Central store14 is coupled to the dictate stations by way of a switching arrangement(not shown) and a message analyzer 12 which is adapted to receivecertain information from a dictate station that is operated tocommunicate with the central store. This information is compiled by themessage analyzer to provide a voice message file for each dictatedmessage. For example, and as is relevant to the present invention,message analyzer 12 is adapted to receive author identifying data whichidentifies the author of a dictated message, recipient identifying datawhich identifies the recipient, if any, of that message, and messagetype data which represents the type of dictated message, such as areport, a memorandum, a letter, etc. Other information associated withthe dictated message also is provided, either from the dictate stationor from internal programming of the message analyzer (which, preferably,includes a microprocessor). Such other information is not necessary fora complete understanding of the present invention and, thus, in theinterest of brevity, is not described.

Each dictate station may include voice signal transmit and reproducingdevices, such as a microphone and a loudspeaker, which may beincorporated into a single handset, as well as control circuitry used toinitiate typical dictate functions, such as record, playback, fastforward, rewind, cue, and the like. One example of such a handset isillustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In addition, suitable manually operabledevices, such as a keyboard or, preferably, and as shown in FIG. 1, akeypad (for example, a telephone-type keypad), may be provided at someor all of the dictate stations for generating input data used toidentify the recipient of a message and the message type. Such keyboardor keypad also may be used to identify the author of the message.However, in the preferred embodiment, each dictate station is associatedwith a predetermined author identifying code such that, when the dictatestation is operated, that is, when it seizes central store 14, thatauthor identifying code is transmitted automatically. Alternatively, theauthor identifying code is created internally by the message analyzer.An example of a suitable dictate station is found in the Connexionsdictation system sold by Dictaphone Corporation, described, for examplein U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,127, issued to Chamberlin et al.

Central store 14 preferably is a digital storage device, such as a harddisk drive, adapted to store voice message information in digital form.Accordingly, since voice messages are produced as analog voice signals,suitable analog-to-digital (A/D) converters are provided either at eachdictate station 10-1, . . . 10-8 or at message analyzer 12 to digitizethe voice message. The voice message file created by message analyzer 12may be stored in central store 14 or, alternatively (or in addition), ina voice message file store whereat it is linked with its associatedvoice message.

A message controller 16 is adapted to reproduce each voice messagestored in central store 14 and supply the reproduced voice message to adesired one of transcribe stations 20-1, 20-2, etc. Although only twotranscribe stations are illustrated, it will be appreciated that severaltranscribe stations may be used such that several stored voice messagesmay be transcribed simultaneously. Message controller 16 may be includedin a supervisory control station operable by a supervisory operator toselect desired voice messages for reproduction and transmission todesired transcribe stations. For example, depending upon the type ofmessage which is stored, the supervisory operator may determine that aparticular transcriptionist is best able to transcribe that message.Hence, under control of the supervisory operator station, that messagemay be reproduced and supplied to a temporary store associated with thetranscribe station utilized by the preferred transcriptionist.Alternatively, message controller 16 may interact with the preferredtranscribe station to reproduce portions, or segments, of the messagefor transcription. One example of the manner in which dictated messagesare stored and transcribed is found in the aforementioned DX7000 system.

FIG. 1 also illustrates priority message retrieval and transmissionapparatus, whereby a voice message stored in central store 14 andidentified as a priority message (or, alternatively, a voice messagewhich satisfies other predetermined criteria), is supplied to a voicemail system for transmission thereover to a desired recipient. Thispriority message communication apparatus includes a priority messagecontroller 22, a priority message store 24, voice mailboxes 32-1, 32-2,32-3, etc. and telephone dial-out circuitry 34. Priority messagecontroller 22 is coupled to message controller 16 and is adapted toreceive information representing which of the messages stored in centralstore 14 are priority messages. Alternatively, the priority messagecontroller may be supplied with the voice message file created for eachvoice message stored in central store 14 to determine whether theinformation contained in that file satisfies certain predeterminedcriteria to designate a particular message as a priority message. Forexample, if a voice message is identified as a priority message, and ifthe author thereof is provided with sufficient authorization todesignate a message as having such "priority", and if the recipient issufficiently identified, the voice message associated with the voicemessage file examined by priority message controller 22 is designated apriority message.

Controller 22 is coupled to priority message store 24 which, in turn, iscoupled to central store 14. Controller 22 is adapted to transfer avoice message which is designated as a priority message from the centralstore to priority message store 24. In a preferred embodiment, the voicemessage simply is written into the priority message store but is notcleared or erased from central store 14. This permits the prioritymessage to be transcribed to hard copy as well as communicated promptlyto its intended recipient. Although not described in detail herein, itwill be understood that control data are transmitted between store 24and controller 22 to indicate when a priority message has, in fact, beentransferred to the priority message store and the location in which thatpriority message is stored.

Priority message controller 22 also is coupled to a recipient look-uptable 26 which is adapted to store communicating data associated witheach recipient capable of receiving priority messages. For example,look-up table 26 may store the telephone number of each such recipient.In the event that the voice message file examined by controller 22 doesnot include the recipient's telephone number but does identify therecipient (for example, either by name or by identity code), the missingtelephone number data may be retrieved from look-up table 26 and addedto this voice message file. Although not shown, a suitable display, suchas a video display, may be coupled to controller 22 for displaying atleast certain information contained in the voice message file. Asupervisory operator may observe this display to verify that the messagefile associated with a priority message identifies the author of thatmessage, that the author has proper authorization to create "priority"messages, that the recipient has been identified, that the communicationinformation (e.g. telephone number) of that recipient is identified andthat the message type has been identified. If any of these (or other)information segments is omitted, for example, if the author has notsupplied all of this information to message analyzer 12, such missinginformation is indicated. Priority message controller 22 is coupled to akeyboard 28 to permit the supervisory operator to furnish such missinginformation. Thus, the supervisory operator may complete a voice messagefile such that a priority message may be transmitted promptly to itsrecipient.

Priority message controller 22 also is coupled to a delivery table 30which provides predetermined delivery information which may beestablished by the supervisory operator or may be inherent in the voicemail transmission system. For example, the delivery table may providedata representing the number of times communication with a recipientshould be attempted in the event that the recipient does not respond to,for example, a telephone call directed to his telephone station. Thedelivery table also may provide information representing delay intervalswhich separate successive communication attempts. For example, suchdelivery information may represent that a recipient should be calledevery twenty minutes; and that a predetermined number of attempts (e.g.ten) should be made before terminating further attempts to transmit thepriority message to that recipient.

Voice mailboxes 32-1, 32-2, 33-3, etc. are coupled to priority messagecontroller 22 and are adapted to receive voice messages transferredthereto from priority message store 24 for temporary storage until thepriority messages therein are transmitted to their respectiverecipients. In one embodiment, each voice mailbox is associated with anindividual recipient, and each voice mailbox may store plural voicemessages to be transmitted to that recipient. In an alternativeembodiment, each voice mailbox may be shared with two or morerecipients; and the priority message destined for one such recipientwill not be transmitted to any other. For example, to access the voicemessage stored in such a voice mailbox, the recipient will be requiredto furnish his identification which, when matched to the recipientidentifying information in the voice message file associated with thatvoice message, the voice message will be transmitted. In the absence ofsuch a match, the voice message will not be transmitted and, thus, onlythe proper recipient will receive that message.

The voice mailboxes are coupled to output circuitry 36 which also iscoupled to telephone dial-out circuitry 34. This dial-out circuitry iscoupled to priority message controller 22 to receive communication dataneeded, for example, to initiate a telephone call to a recipient. Itwill be appreciated that the telephone dial-out circuitry is suppliedwith information in the voice message file representing the recipient'stelephone number so as to initiate a dialing operation whereby atelephone call is placed to that recipient. In one embodiment, telephonedial-out circuitry 34 is used to initiate a dialing operation for eachpriority message stored in a respective voice mailbox. As will bedescribed below, in the event that a priority voice message is nottransmitted from a voice mailbox to its recipient, priority messagecontroller 22 functions to supply another telephone number to telephonedial-out circuitry 34 to initiate yet another dialing operation in anattempt to reach a different recipient so as to transmit a priorityvoice message destined for that recipient. Accordingly, the dial-outcircuitry may be thought of as scanning all of the priority messagefiles stored in priority message controller 22 for the purpose ofinitiating telephone dial-out operations for each voice message. Theforegoing process is repeated for those recipients that do not respondto a telephone call initiated by telephone dial-out circuitry 34.

Output circuitry 36 is coupled to a telephone line and functions todetect when a recipient answers a telephone call initiated by thetelephone dial-out circuitry. In response thereto, the voice messagedestined for that recipient and stored in the recipient's voice mailboxis transmitted; and priority message controller 22 is apprised ofsuccessful transmission. The priority voice message then may be clearedfrom the recipient's voice mailbox. In addition, the voice message fileassociated with that voice message may be updated to indicate successfultransmission of the priority message, the time at which that message wastransmitted, and other data which may be useful in management reporting(e.g. the number of telephone calls that were placed to the recipientuntil he answered).

The manner in which the system illustrated in FIG. 1 operates now willbe described. Let it be assumed that an author at dictate station 10-1operates the dictate station to transmit a voice message fortranscription. Message analyzer 12 detects that dictate station 10-1 isoperated and, depending upon predetermined system criteria, begins tocompile a voice message file. For example, the identity of dictatestation 10-1 is entered; and if this dictate station is located within aparticular department of a business organization, the identity of thatdepartment also is entered. Assuming that the dictate station isprovided with a keypad, the author may operate that keypad to furnishadditional data, such as author identifying data, message type data, andthe like. Preferably, this additional data may be entered by the authorat any time during dictation. Keypad signals, such as dual-tone multiplefrequency (DTMF) signals may be transmitted as data signals; and theseDTMF signals are easily discriminated by message analyzer 12 and used tocompile the voice message file. Actual voice messages are stored invoice message central store 14.

At, or subsequent to, the completion of a message, message controller 16establishes communication between any transcribe station 20-1, 20-2,etc. and central store 14. In one embodiment, the voice message filecompiled by message analyzer 12 is supplied to message controller 16;and portions (or all) of the message file are transmitted to thetranscribe station whereat they may be used to provide a hard copy of,for example, the author identification, the message type, the departmentidentification, and the like. The voice message file also may be used bythe message controller and other supervisory control systems (not shown)to provide a log of dictated and transcribed messages. Messagecontroller 16 also interacts with the transcribe station so as toretrieve a voice message from central store 14 and transmit that voicemessage to the transcribe station whereat it is transcribed. Of course,the usual transcribe functions such as PLAY, REWIND, FAST-FORWARD, andthe like may be executed.

Let it now be assumed that the author at, for example, dictate station10-8, dictates a priority message which should be transmitted promptlyto a particular recipient. The operation described above in connectionwith a message dictated for transcription is carried out, wherebymessage analyzer 12 compiles a voice message file and whereby thedictated message is stored in central store 14. In addition, it isassumed that the author operates his keypad to transmit priorityidentifying data and recipient identifying data to the message analyzer.In an alternative embodiment, message analyzer 12 may be such that whena particular recipient is identified, as by the operation of theauthor's keypad, the message being dictated is designated a prioritymessage. Other criteria may be used to identify a message as a prioritymessage. For example, all messages dictated by a particular author maybe designated "priority" messages. In any event, when a voice message isidentified as a priority message, its voice message file is supplied asa priority message file from message controller 16 to priority messagecontroller 22. At this time, the voice message itself remains in centralstore 14.

Referring to FIG. 2, a schematic representation of a suitable voicemessage file 40 is illustrated. The voice message file includes datasegments, or fields, the information for which is supplied by a dictatestation, by a keypad operated by an author and by predetermined systemcriteria. For example, data segment a represents the authoridentification; and this identification data may be suppliedautomatically when a particular dictate station seizes central store 14.In that case, each dictate station is assumed to be dedicated to aparticular author. Alternatively, the author may operate his keypad soas to manually enter this author identification data.

Data segment b identifies the type of message which the author isdictating. For example, the keypad may be operated by the author toindicate a letter, report, memorandum, etc.

Data segment c identifies the recipient, if any, of the dictatedmessage. Typically, recipient identification data is entered by themanual operation of the author's keypad if this message is destined to aparticular recipient. For example, a memorandum may be dictated,transcribed and forwarded to the recipient whose identity is representedby data segment c. For the purpose of the present invention, therecipient identification indicates the particular recipient to which apriority message is destined.

Data segment d indicates whether the voice message linked to thismessage file is a priority message. For example, a priority flag may beset or reset to provide an appropriate indication of whether the voicemessage is a priority message. Data segment d also is provided withtelephone data which represents the telephone number of the recipient ofthe voice message. This telephone number data is used by telephonedial-out circuitry 34 to dial the indicated telephone number so as toestablish communication with the recipient identified by data segment cand thereby transmit to that recipient a priority voice message. Toaccommodate automatic dialing systems, the recipient telephone numberdata includes the usual codes which may be used by, for example, PBXequipment to dial the telephone number of virtually any telephonelocated anywhere in the world.

Data segment e identifies the location in central store 14 in which thevoice message linked to message file 40 is stored. It will beappreciated that data segment e provides the link between the messagefile and the stored voice message. This data segment facilitates readyaccess to the stored voice message.

Data segment f identifies the department of a business organization ofwhich the author is a member. It will be recognized that data segment fis optional and, if used, department identification may be enteredmanually, as by the operation of the author's keypad, or automatically.

Message file 40 may be provided with additional data segments g, h, etc.providing further information useful in monitoring the overall centraldictation system. For example, such additional data segments mayidentify a transcriptionist who transcribes the voice message, the timeat which the voice message is dictated, the time at which transcriptionbegins, the time at which transcription is completed, the length of thevoice message and the status of the condition of that message (e.g.whether it is in the process of being dictated, whether dictation iscomplete, whether it has been assigned to a particular transcriptionist,etc.). Other such data may indicate whether a priority message has beentransferred to its recipient, the time of such transmission, the numberof attempts made before transmission was successful, etc.

If data segment d of message file 40 indicates that the voice message isa priority message, this message file is duplicated for priority messagecontroller 22. FIG. 2 indicates a supervisory control 42 included in (orcoupled to) the priority message controller; this supervisory controlbeing adapted to sense missing or incomplete data segments which may becompleted by a supervisory operator. Supervisory control 42 is coupledto a suitable display 44, to a keyboard 46 and to tables 48. Keyboard 46may be similar to aforementioned keyboard 28; and tables 48 may comprisetables 26 and 30, discussed above in conjunction with FIG. 1. Datasegments a, b, c, etc. are scanned by supervisory control 42; anddisplay 44 provides a visual display of the message file. Thus, thesupervisory operator is apprised of any data segments which are missingor incomplete; and keyboard 46 may be operated to supply the missinginformation. In one embodiment, if a recipient is identified by datasegment c, but if the telephone number of that recipient is not enteredin data segment d, tables 48 may be accessed in response to the sensingof missing information to retrieve the telephone number of theidentified recipient. Of course, if such telephone number information isnot stored in tables 48, keyboard 46 may be operated by the supervisoryoperator to enter this information in message file 40. Similarly, othervariable data segments may be supplied with information by thesupervisory operator. Supervisory control 42 scans successive prioritymessage files for this purpose.

Another function carried out by supervisory control 42 is to identifythose voice messages designated as priority messages, but whose authors,as represented by data segment a, are not authorized to dictate prioritymessages. A supervisory operator may, nevertheless, conform that thisvoice message should be transmitted as a priority message. Stillfurther, supervisory control 42 may be operated to enter or modifycommunication delivery information stored in, for example, deliverytable 30. For example, the supervisory operator may actuate keyboard 46to provide information representing the number of times a telephone callis to be placed to a recipient before further attempts are discontinued,and information representing the delay between successive attempts toplace that call. As mentioned above, this communication deliveryinformation is utilized by telephone dial-out circuitry 34.

If message file 40 is complete, or once missing or incompleteinformation is furnished by the supervisory operator, priority messagecontroller 22 sends a suitable signal to message controller 16 forreading the voice message stored at the central store locationidentified in data segment e, which voice message then is written intothe same (or corresponding) location in priority message store 24. Forconvenience, data segment e of message file 40 stored in prioritymessage controller 22 is updated to identify the location in which thepriority voice message is stored in priority message store 24. Then,this voice message is supplied to a particular one of voice mailboxes32-1, 32-2, etc., to which the recipient identified in data segment chas access.

Referring to FIG. 3, the manner in which telephone dial-out circuitry 34operates to establish communication with the intended recipient of thepriority voice message stored in a voice mailbox now will be described.It is assumed that dial-out circuitry 34 includes a dialer 52, a counter56 and a timer 58; and it is further assumed that dialer 52 isresponsive to particular data segments of each of several message files40. These data segments, to be described, and the message files in whichthey are contained are represented in FIG. 3 as priority message files54.

Dialer 52, which may be similar to many conventional dialing systemsthat are commercially available, receives from priority message files 54the telephone number of a remote telephone station to be dialed and thetime (e.g. the time of day) at which the next preceding dialingoperation was carried out. It is assumed that the preceding dialingoperation did not succeed in establishing communication with therecipient. That is, it is assumed that a previous telephone call was notanswered. The priority message files also supply to the dialer anindication of the number of prior unsuccessful attempts that had beenmade.

Based upon this information supplied to dialer 52 from the prioritymessage files, the recipient's telephone number is dialed. Dialingsignals, which may be tone or pulse signals, are transmitted over thetelephone line to the remote telephone station. If the remote telephoneis answered, an answer detector 60 updates priority message files 54such that this message file no longer is supplied to the dialer. Thatis, it is assumed that, upon answering the outgoing telephone callinitiated by dialer 52, there no longer is a need to effect subsequentattempts to establish communication with the recipient.

However, if the outgoing telephone call is not answered, for example,after a predetermined time duration or after a predetermined number ofringing signals is sensed, dialer 52 terminates this outgoing telephonecall and counter 56 is incremented. The incremented count is stored inthis priority message file as is the time at which this attempt was madeto communicate with the recipient. If this updated count of unsuccessfuldial-out attempts for this particular priority message are notinitiated. Assuming, however, that this number of unsuccessful telephonecalls has not been reached, as timer 58 is updated to represent thepresent time of day, this updated time is compared to the time of lastdial-out stored in the priority message file. When the differencebetween these times is equal to or greater than the predetermined delayinterval between successive dial-out attempts, dialer 52 is actuatedonce again to initiate yet another telephone call to this recipient.

It is appreciated that priority message controller 22 may be used tocompare the present time of day to the time representing when the lastdial-out attempt was made.

Let it be assumed that during one of these dial-out operations, therecipient answers the telephone call. As mentioned above, answerdetector 60 inhibits further attempts to telephone this recipient,unless this recipient is identified in a new priority message file. Forexample, message file 40 may include a fail/success flag which is setwhen a telephone call to this recipient should be initiated and reset toprevent further telephone call attempts if a call is answered. Inaddition, answer detector 60 triggers the voice mailbox in which thepriority voice message intended for this recipient is stored, such asvoice mailbox 32-1. The voice message then is read from this voicemailbox and transmitted to the recipient by way of suitable transmittercircuitry 62. The transmitter circuitry preferably includesdigital-to-analog converters, modulators and impedance matching circuitsby which an audible voice message is generated in response to thedigital voice message stored in voice mailbox 32-1. The transmittercircuitry may be common to several voice mailboxes and operated when avoice message is transmitted from one of those voice mailboxes to thecalled recipient.

In one embodiment of this invention, answer detector 60 includesverifying circuitry to verify that a telephone call is answered by therecipient to which the priority voice message is destined. For example,a synthesized voice message may be transmitted to the remote answeringparty to apprise him of the fact that a message awaits retrieval and toinvite him to enter a suitable identification code, as by operating thekeypad at his answering telephone. When the answer detector senses thatthe proper identifying code has been entered at the remote telephone,voice mailbox 32-1 then may be triggered.

In another embodiment, when a telephone call to a remote telephonestation is answered, suitable indications, such as predetermined tonesignals, may be transmitted, apprising the remote party that a prioritymessage is stored in his voice mailbox and is awaiting retrieval. Inthis embodiment, the telephone call to the remote telephone station thenis terminated. Hence, to retrieve the priority voice message from hisvoice mailbox, the recipient must initiate a telephone call to the voicemessage system which then operates in a manner similar to conventionalvoice mail systems to transmit the voice message stored in his voicemailbox.

It is appreciated that the system illustrated in FIG. 1 is intended tobe used with particular, authorized users. It is further appreciatedthat the recipient of the priority message may be one of these users. Ifthe recipient is not situated at the telephone station which is calledby dialer 52, it is likely that he will not receive any priority messagedestined to him, unless he accesses the voice message system. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, an incoming call detector 64 is coupled to thetelephone line to detect incoming telephone calls that may be placed byusers of the system. For example, the incoming call detector may beresponsive only to predetermined telephone numbers known only to systemusers. The incoming call detector responds to an incoming telephone callto connect the remote calling party to priority message controller 22.When this telephone number is called, the remote user enters suitableidentifying data, such as by operating the keypad at his telephone set,in response to a synthesized announcement transmitted to him, invitingsuch operation.

Priority message controller 22 responds to this user identification toscan priority message files 40 to determine whether the identificationof the remote user matches the recipient identification in data segmentc and, if so, whether the priority flag in data segment d is set. Thus,the priority message controller determines whether a priority voicemessage is awaiting retrieval by the remote calling party. If so, thevoice mailbox in which this priority message is stored is triggered totransmit that message to the calling party.

Similarly, if a user of one of the dictate stations seizes central store14, message controller 16 scans the message files linked with the voicemessages stored in the central store; and if any stored voice message isa priority message intended for this user, it is played back to him viathe dictate station.

In a preferred embodiment, the recipient of a priority message isprovided with telephone apparatus of the type known as the Connexionstelephone system sold by Dictaphone Corporation. This telephoneinstrument includes a voice recorder, such as a magnetic tape recorderfor recording analog voice signals, and a visual display for displayingtext messages. Such a telephone instrument may be operated in anunattended mode to receive and record voice messages transmitted theretofrom any one of the voice mailboxes shown in FIG. 1.

The manner in which telephone dial-out circuitry 34, or the manner inwhich the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3 cooperates with such atelephone instrument to transmit a priority voice message thereto nowwill be described in conjunction with the flow chart shown in FIG. 4.This flow chart represents the operation of a microprocessorincorporated into or used with the communicating apparatus shown inFIGS. 1 and 3.

It is assumed that the telephone number of the recipient for which apriority message is destined has been dialed; and that this telephonecall is answered. The microprocessor routine illustrated in FIG. 4commences with instruction 72, whereupon preface tones and a warningmessage, such as a synthesized voice message indicating that a prioritymessage is to be transmitted to the recipient, are sent over thetelephone line to the answering station. Inquiry 74 determines if replytones are received from the called station. If the called station is notan unattended Connexions telephone instrument, or compatible telephonedevice, reply tones are not received. In that event, inquiry 74 isanswered in the negative; and the routine advances to instruction 88 todisconnect the telephone connection. However, if the called telephonestation is an unattended Connexions telephone instrument, thatinstrument responds to the preface tones to return reply tones to thecommunicating apparatus of FIG. 1 (or FIG. 3). It will be appreciatedthat the synthesized voice message transmitted by instruction 72 servesto apprise an operator who may answer the unattended Connexionstelephone that a voice message is awaiting retrieval.

If inquiry 74 is answered in the affirmative, the routine advances toinstruction 76 to transmit a turn-on signal to the remote telephonestation. This signal is of a predetermined tone (or combination oftones) which turns on the voice recorder at the Connexions telephoneinstrument. The tone (or tones) also functions to activate the displayat the telephone instrument. Thereafter, instruction 78 is executed totransmit display data to the called telephone. This data is transmittedas a combination of tones representing ASCII characters corresponding toparticular data segments included in a voice message file. For example,the display data provides indicates of a priority message, of the authorof the voice message to be transmitted, of the date and time oftransmission, and of other information which may be useful to therecipient, such as the type of message, the department from which themessage originated, etc.

It is expected that this display data is received by the telephoneinstrument, resulting in a corresponding text display to apprise therecipient of the priority message. The routine then inquires, at 80, ifacknowledgement signals have been received from the remote telephoneinstrument, acknowledging successful receipt of the display data. Ifthis inquiry is answered in the negative, the routine returns toinstruction 76; and the microprocessor cycles through the loop formed ofinstructions 76 and 78 and inquiry 80. However, if the displayed data isreceived successfully and if acknowledgement signals are returned to thecommunicating apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, inquiry 80 isanswered in the affirmative.

Thereafter, instruction 82 is carried out to transmit the voice messagestored in the voice mailbox to the remote telephone instrument. It isexpected that this voice message is received and recorded by theunattended telephone instrument. At the completion of the voice message,which may be indicated by the transmission of suitable end tones, it isexpected that acknowledgement signals will be returned by the remotetelephone instrument to indicate that the voice message has beensuccessfully received and recorded. Accordingly, the routine advances toinquiry 84 to sense if such record acknowledge signals have beenreceived. If they are, instruction 88 is carried out to release thetelephone line now that a successful recording of the priority messagehas been made at the called telephone instrument.

However, if inquiry 84 is answered in the negative, that is, if recordacknowledge signals have not been received, inquiry 86 is carried out todetermine if a predetermined number of voice message retransmissionshave been made. If not, instruction 82 is repeated, whereupon the voicemessage which had been transmitted previously from the voice mailbox isretransmitted.

The microprocessor cycles through the loop formed of instruction 82 andinquiries 84 and 86 until either a record acknowledge signal is receivedfrom the remote telephone instrument or the predetermined number ofvoice message retransmissions has been made. If either inquiry 84 orinquiry 86 is answered in the affirmative, the communication apparatusillustrated in FIG. 1 (or FIG. 3) is disconnected from the telephoneline.

Turning now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, one embodiment of a suitable handsetthat may be used at the dictate stations shown in FIG. 1 is illustrated.FIG. 5A is a side view of a hand-held microphone; and FIG. 5B is abottom view thereof. The illustrated handset 100 is comprised of ahousing 102 which contains electrical circuitry coupled to messageanalyzer 12 (FIG. 1) by suitable electrical connectors shown generallyas connectors 104. Housing 102 includes an upper surface 106 and a lowersurface 108, the latter being illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 5B.

As is apparent from FIG. 5A, housing 102 contains a microphone; andalthough not shown, a suitable aperture is provided in the housing topermit voice signals to be detected by and converted into electricalaudio signals by that microphone. Preferably, housing 102 also containsa loudspeaker 110; and a grillwork is provided to shield the loudspeakerfrom damage.

Functional switches, known to those of ordinary skill in the dictationart, are provided in housing 102; and these switches are manuallyoperable to control various dictation functions. Examples of suchswitches are shown as banks of switches 112 and 114, wherein bank 112may include a fast-forward switch, operable to effect a fast-forwardoperation, and one or more cue switches, operable to indicate the end ofa letter, report, or the like, as well as to indicate the location in avoice message at which special instructions are recorded. Bank 114includes a record switch, operable to effect a recording operation, arewind/play switch, operable when actuated to effect a rewind operationand, when released, to dispose the dictation system in a playbackoperation whereby previously recorded dictation may be reviewed. Bank114 also includes a stop switch operable to terminate any otheroperation which had been initiated by the actuation of a switch includedin bank 112 or in bank 114. Such functional switches are sufficientlyknown to those of ordinary skill in the art and further descriptionthereof is unnecessary.

As shown, housing 102 is formed with a relatively small upward angle,whereby speaker portion 110 appears to be raised when viewed in the sideelevational view of FIG. 5A. Lower surface 108 of housing 102 isprovided with an extension 116 integrally formed therewith. As bestshown in FIG. 5B, extension 116 is adapted to receive and mount abarrel-shaped housing 118 which protrudes from the lower surface ofhousing 102. Barrel-shaped housing 118 receives a bar code sensor 120which includes suitable optics and photosensing devices for detectingthe so-called UPC bar code indicia typically provided on variousproducts well known to consumers. Bar code sensor 120 may be of the typeincluding a light emitter, such as an LED, or the like, and aphoto-optical detector, such as a phototransistor, or the like.Alternatively, bar code sensor 120 may include a laser device and photodetector. In the former embodiment, bar code indicia are sensed byadvancing bar code sensor 120 across such bar code indicia while thesensor is in physical contact therewith. In the latter embodiment,physical contact between the sensor and the bar code indicia may beavoided.

The combined microphone/bar-code-sensor shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B findsready application in the environment of a health care facility. In suchenvironment, reports and memoranda relating to diagnoses and patientconditions often are dictated while viewing an X-ray, observing adiagnostic test, or the like. It is most common for patientidentification, as well as other pertinent information, to berepresented on that X-ray, diagnostic test, or the like, in the form ofa bar code. Thus, rather than operating a keypad to create and transmitsuch information to message analyzer 12, as discussed above inconjunction with FIG. 1, all that need be done is to scan such bar codeindicia with sensor 120 mounted on hand-held microphone unit 100. Ifsuch bar code indicia includes the identity of the intended recipient ofa voice message, handset unit 100 now serves two important functions: itgenerates recipient identifying information and it also generates thevoice message to be transmitted to that recipient.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be readily appreciatedthat various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, rather thantransmitting synthesized audible messages as warning indications,predetermined tone signals which will be recognized by the recipientsthereof may be used. As another example, priority message store 24 maybe deleted; and both message controller 16 and priority messagecontroller 22 may interact with a single central store 14. In thepreferred embodiment, central store 14 includes one or more hard diskdrives, known to those of ordinary skill in the art. However, othersuitable digital storage devices may be used. As yet another alternativeembodiment, once telephone communication with a particular recipient ofa priority voice message has been made, it may turn out that therecipient does not fully receive or understand the voice messagetransmitted to him via the voice mailbox. In that event, a repeat signalmay be transmitted, as by operating a predetermined pushbutton on histelephone keypad, such as button "*", whereupon the voice message simplyis retransmitted. As yet a further alternative, although telephonecommunication with recipients has been described, other conventionalmodes of communication may be used, such as radio transmission,whereupon voice messages stored in the voice mailboxes may be modulatedand transmitted as radio signals. Still further, if telephonecommunication is adopted, it is understood that a recipient's telephonestation may be a remote station or may be simply an extension includedin a PBX system.

It is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including theembodiment described herein, the alternatives mentioned above, and allequivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a voice mail system, apparatus for apprisingan unattended station of the presence of a voice message awaitingretrieval, comprising: connection means for connecting said voice mailsystem to said unattended station; turn-on means for transmittingactivating signals to said unattended station to dispose said unattendedstation in a signal receiving mode of operation; display transmit meansfor transmitting display data representative of said voice message tosaid unattended station when said unattended station is conditioned toreceive signals; and disconnect means for disconnecting said voice mailsystem from said unattached station either (a) if said unattendedstation is not conditioned to receive signals, or (b) subsequent to thetransmission of said display data.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinsaid connection means comprises telephone communication means; saidunattended station comprises a telephone station; and said telephonecommunication means includes telephone dial-out means for dialing atelephone number representing said telephone station.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein said turn-on means includes preface signal generatingmeans for transmitting preface signals to said unattended station, andreply signal detecting means for detecting reply signals returned fromsaid unattended station representing that said unattended station iscapable of responding to said activating signals.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3 wherein said connection means includes an audio signal channel,and wherein said preface signal generating means comprises preface tonegenerating means and warning message generating means, the latter beingadapted to apprise a human operator of the presence of a voice messageawaiting retrieval.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said turn-onmeans further includes enable means responsive to the detection of saidreply signals for enabling said activating signals to be transmitted. 6.The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising acknowledgment means fordetecting acknowledgment signals returned from said unattended stationrepresenting that said display data has been successfully received. 7.The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising voice message transmitmeans responsive to said acknowledgement means for transmitting to saidunattended station the voice message awaiting retrieval, such that saidvoice message may be recorded at the unattended station.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein said voice message transmit means includessensing means for sensing record completion signals returned from saidunattended station when said voice message is recorded thereat, repeatmeans for repeating said voice message a predetermined number of timesif said record completion signals are not sensed from said unattendedstation, and means for operating said disconnect means in response tosaid sensing means or said repeat means.
 9. A system for deliveringpriority voice messages dictated in a central dictation system, in whichdictated voice messages normally are transcribed to hard copy, to anunattended voice-recording telephone station of an intended recipient byway of voice mail communication apparatus having plural voice mailboxes,said voice-recording telephone station having means for recording voicemessages, said system comprising:a central store for storing dictatedvoice messages; priority identifying means for identifying a storedvoice message as a priority voice message and for identifying theintended recipient thereof; priority message control means for directinga priority voice message from said central store to a voice mailbox fortransmission to said unattended voice-recording telephone station ofsaid intended recipient; dial-out means for dialling a telephone numberrepresenting said voice-recording telephone station to connect saidtelephone station to said voice mailbox; display data transmit means fortransmitting to said voice-recording telephone station display data forcausing said telephone station to display information identifying apriority voice message; voice message transmit means for transmitting tosaid voice-recording telephone station the priority voice messagedirected to said voice mailbox for recording at said telephone station;and disconnect means for disconnecting said telephone station from saidvoice mailbox.
 10. The system of claim 9 wherein said dial-out meansincludes tone signal transmit means for transmitting predetermined tonesignals to said telephone station, and reply detecting means fordetecting reply signals returned from said telephone stationrepresenting that said telephone station is a predetermined type. 11.The system of claim 10 wherein said display data transmit means includesactivate means for transmitting activating signals to said telephonestation to activate said voice message recording means.
 12. The systemof claim 11 wherein said voice message transmit means includes turn-ondetect means for detecting turn-on signals returned from said telephonestation representing that said voice message recording means isactivated and for intiating transmission of said priority voice messagefor recording by said recording means.
 13. The system of claim 12wherein said voice message transmit means further includesacknowledgment means for sensing acknowledgment signals returned fromsaid telephone station representing that said priority voice message hasbeen recorded; and repeat means for repeating the transmission of saidpriority voice message if acknowledgment signals are not sensed.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein said disconnect means is responsive to theabsence of reply signals or to the sensing of acknowledgment signalsreturned from said telephone station to disconnect said telephonestation from said voice mailbox.
 15. The system of claim 14 wherein saidrepeat means is operative to repeat the transmission of said priorityvoice message a predetermined number of times or until saidacknowledgment signals are sensed, whichever first occurs, and foractivating said disconnect means if said priority voice message has beentransmitted said predetermined number of times.
 16. A method ofapprising an unattended station of the presence of a voice messageawaiting retrieval from a voice mail system, comprising the steps of:connecting said voice mail system to said unattended station;transmitting activating signals to said unattended station to attempt todispose said unattended station in a signal receiving mode of operation;transmitting display data representative of said voice message to saidunattended station if and when said unattended station is conditioned toreceive signals; and disconnecting said voice mail system from saidunattended station either (a) if said unattended station is notconditioned to receive signals, or (b) subsequent to the transmission ofsaid display data.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein said step oftransmitting activating signals comprises transmitting preface signalsto said unattended station, and detecting reply signals returned fromsaid unattended station representing that said unattended station iscapable of responding to activating signals.
 18. The method of claim 17wherein said preface signals comprise preface tones and an audiblewarning message, the latter being adapted to apprise a human operator ofthe presence of a voice message awaiting retrieval.
 19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein said display data are transmitted in response to thedetection of said reply signals.
 20. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising the step of detecting acknowledgment signals returned fromsaid unattended station representing that said display data has beensuccessfully received.
 21. The method of claim 20 further comprising thestep of transmitting to said unattended station, if acknowledgmentsignals are detected, the voice message awaiting retrieval, such thatsaid voice message may be recorded at the unattended station.
 22. Themethod of claim 21 wherein the step of disconnecting includes sensingrecord completion signals returned from said unattended station whensaid voice message is recorded thereat, repeating said voice message upto a predetermined number of times if said record completion signals arenot sensed from said unattended station, and disconnecting said voicemail system from said unattended station in response to sensed recordcompletion signals or if said voice message has been repeated saidpredetermined number of times.